Through a combination of presentations, discussions, hands-on activities, and take-home materials, this workshop addresses the various elements of museum education and program planning needed to create an engaging, educational, and successful program with a focus on collections-based educational programming. Topics include learning styles, presentation strategies, audience types, planning strategies and program assessment, and crafting programming that is meaningful to the education community. Participants will be asked to bring a challenge or a program in development to discuss during the course of this full-day workshop.

This workshop is presented in partnership with The Creative Learning Factory at the Ohio Historical Society and the Ohio Local History Alliance.

The registration deadline is October 31. To register, contact the Local History Office by calling 614-297-2340 or through email at localhistory@ohiohistory.org. The workshop fee is $25 for members and $32 for non-members.

Who should attend:
This workshop is suited for staff (first-time museum educators, directors, tour guides or volunteer managers and mid-career professionals), museum studies students, or dedicated volunteers working in all types of museums who are given the responsibility of education and public programming.

Presenters:

Stacia Kuceyeski, CEO of Creative Learning, The Creative Learning Factory at the Ohio Historical Society, provides high quality professional development for cultural heritage professionals as well as K-16 audience in a variety of humanities content areas and learning theories. Stacia has presented and published on engaging students and teachers with collections; combining what originally brought her into the museum field (collections) with what she turned out to be more suited for (getting people excited about those collections). Stacia earned her B.A. in History and her M.A. in Cultural Policy and Arts Administration, both from The Ohio State University.

Megan Wood is the Visitor Experience Department Manager at the Ohio Historical Society. Ms. Wood received a B.A. in Public History from Western Michigan University and went on to obtain her M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. From 2004-2006, Ms. Wood worked at the New York State Historical Association as an intern and then the Manager of Statewide Programs coordinating New York State History Day and working on other teacher and curriculum programs like Harvest of History (www.harvestofhistory.org). In 2006, she took on the role as State Coordinator for National History Day in Ohio at OHS. Currently, Ms. Wood oversees the frontline staff at the Ohio History Center, programmatic operations of the Ohio Village, school programs, and public programs for OHS.

Schedule:

Pre-Workshop: Participants to review selected articles and websites before the workshop. These readings will be a combination of scholarly and popular articles that introduce the basics of museum education and current educational issues.

9:00-9:45 AM: Introductions
Participants introduce themselves, their institution, and their educational challenge. Workshop Coordinators present the agenda, goals, and objectives for the day.

9:45-10:45 AM: Learning at All Ages
Participants will look at a brief history of learning theory and how it applies to working with visitors to museums

10:45-12:00 PM: Current Museum Education Theory and Trends
Participants will receive an overview of current educational theories relating to museum education and some practical applications of those theories to museum programs and activities.

12:00-12:30 PM: Lunch

12:30 PM-1:30 PM: Institution Needs and Assessment
Participants will consider their institution’s mission, audience, community, and current program offerings and begin to formulate an education and programming needs assessment.

1:30-3:30 PM: Ingredients for Successful Education Programs
Participants will examine samples of successful educational programs implemented by a range of institutions. By analyzing these programs participants will see the practical applications of theory and the planning, execution, and evaluation process that leads to successful programming. Workshop Coordinators will present an overview and lead participants through the goal setting and goal evaluating process.

3:30-4:00 PM: Evaluation
Participants will complete a written evaluation of the workshop.